The Road To Hana - Part II

The excitement along The Road to Hana really heats up on the second half of the journey. As you approach the town of Wailua, you will pass a few fruit stands offering homemade goodies and fruit. If you are hungry for a snack, this is a great place to stop and have a bite. The offerings are refreshing and mouth-watering to say the least.

Your next stop on this second half of the journey should be Our Lady of Fatima Shrine. It is a little blue and white chapel built in the 1860's. This church has an existing congregation, but they no longer use this chapel as the current sanctuary. The site is an extremley fascinating one nevertheless.

Another site not to be missed is the Ka'eleku caverns. You can actually go into underground caves formed by lava eruptions from ancient volcanoes. You will probably need a four-wheel drive vehicle to access this one. The Kahanu garden is a botanical garden located on the road to Hana. It is a National Conservation effort. The next stop just past the botanical garden is the sacred pools. They offer a natural water park of sorts. The view is spectacular and unlike anything that you probably have ever seen.

Near the top of the mountain, almost to Hana is Wai'anapanapa State Park. The park is located amongst an impressive black sand beach and has two caves that you can walk through. They actually lead to the ocean, so be careful. There are several signs warning would be swimmers of unusually large man-of-war, strong rip currents and sharks. So, the message here is to be extra careful. It can be beautiful and interesting but dangers lurk all around.

Now it is finally on to the destination - Hana. Hana itself is not really all that spectacular considering all the gorgeous stops along the way. However, after such an exciting journey, it is a welcome respite for rest and relaxation. There are a couple of little café's that make for a good place to have lunch. The beach is complete with a pier that you should at least take a quick stroll on. Hana even has an airport. You can either stay in Hana at one of the few lodging options, or if you are like most people it is time to head back to the resort area.

Most people will drive back the way the came, perhaps stopping at a few of the places that they might have missed along the way. Or, if you are amongst the brave few, and still want some more excitement, you may continue onward just beyond Hana itself. A four-wheel drive vehicle would best suit this part of the journey as you will have only a dirt path that could be called a road, but is extremely winding and curvy, along the top of a cliff with no guard rails to protect motorists from falling hundreds of feet into the ocean below.

There are a few signs instructing drivers to honk in order to alert oncoming traffic, because this is only a one lane road. It is a little bit scary, but thrilling at the same time and the view is unbelievable. This isolated road complete with ocean views on one side and cow pastures only lasts for a few miles, and then it is back to civilization.

You can get a detailed map complete with a C.D. from your concierge or even the gas station. The map will give specific mile marker indications, making it easy to spot these breathtaking sights that is all a part of Hana.